What do the major religions teach us about the environment? What is their view of how humans fit into the rest of nature and what do they say about the nature of our relationship with the divine?

A DVD exploring these questions from the perspective of six world faiths – Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism – is being sent out free this month to nearly 1,000 schools around the UK, sponsored by the Ashden Trust and using footage from ARC’s colourful Hearing the Voices of Creation celebration at Windsor Castle last November, in the presence of HRH The Prince Philip and the Secretary of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon.

The Hearing the Voices of Creation Teachers pack was launched last month at ‘A Garden Party to Make a Difference’,, the festival of sustainability at Clarence House, the London residence of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

The pack is a free teaching resource aimed at helping RE teachers at key stage 3 to stimulate pupils’ imaginative and artistic engagement with faiths and the environment through narrative, drama and music.

Through words, dance, ritual and music, the DVD celebrates those times and ways in which we have allowed other parts of nature to speak for themselves. It includes four lessons based around Creation, Crisis, Restoring the Balance and Images of the Future.

Among the poems and stories included are The Story of the Monkey King (Buddhism) and The Story of the Tree (Christianity).

ARC director Martin Palmer explains: “We are hearing all the time about the planet from our perspective – will there be enough food for our grandchildren, enough water, enough land? But why don’t we hear about it from the perspective of the thousands, the millions of other species?

“Every religion has a song, a story about how another part of creation views us, views the rest of nature, views God. These stories, poems and prayers capture how the major religions understand our relationship with the rest of nature and, of course, with God or with the gods.”

There has been positive response so far from various RE groups from across the country.

Link here for the complete Teacher’s Pack.
Lesson One: The Creation according to Hinduism and Judaism.
Lesson Two: The Crisis according to Buddhism and Christianity.
Lesson Three: Restoring the Balance according to Sikhism and Islam.
Lesson Four: Images of the Future.

October 13, 2010 - update:ARC launches DVD and Teacher's Pack on religion and ecologyWhat do the major religions teach us about the environment? A DVD exploring how humans fit into the rest of nature and looking at our relationship with the divine from the perspective of six world religions has been created by ARC.

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